Mergers: Commission clears acquisition of OCTE by Avis Budget Group and Koç Holding

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of OCTE of Greece by Otokoç ABG Holland BV of the Netherlands, which will be jointly controlled by Avis Budget Group Inc. ('ABG') of the US and Koç Holding A.S. ('Koç') of Turkey. OCTE trades as Avis Hellas and, since 2010, has been appointed as Avis' franchisee in Greece for the Avis and Budget brands. ABG is a global provider of rental cars and also operates a car sharing network through its Zipcar brand. Koç is an investment holding company which is active in a range of sectors, including energy, consumer durables, cars and finance. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, given the absence of horizontal overlaps or vertical links between the companies' activities in Greece. Although ABG, Koç and OCTE all provide short-term and long-term car rental services, their activities take place in distinct national markets. Moreover, there are no existing supplier or customer relationships between them. The operation was examined under the simplified merger review procedure. More information will be available on the Commission's competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.8756.